Welsh Journals

A HISTORY OF THE SCOTTISH COAL INDUSTRY, VOL. I, 1700-1815. By Baron F. Duckham. David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1970. Pp. 387, 22 illus. £5·25. During the eighteenth century there was, possibly, a four-fold increase in Scottish coal production. When the century began, output came mainly from the eastern coalfields of Fife and the Lothians, and served primarily the needs of householders and of salt boilers. When it ended, production had expanded in all Scottish coalfields, but was now centred much more in the western coalfields of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, while the dominant sources of demand were those of Glasgow and the Clyde towns, of the lime-burners serving the farms and the building industry, and of a growing range of industries-iron, glass, brewing, sugar, chemicals, tanning and soap. Both this expansion and this change in the centre of gravity of the industry occurred mainly in the closing decades of the century. By 1800 Lanarkshire was clearly the leading coal county, while the high price of coal in Edinburgh reflected the unprogressiveness of the Midlothian coal owners. Subjected to the pressures of a growing demand, the industry changed its characteristics. At first, in a country where capital was scarce, collieries had been principally developed by the landed gentry, who, anxious to exploit to the full the resources of their estates, participated directly in the industry as entrepreneurs. Mines were shallow and often short-lived, to be abandoned, as their extension drove up costs, in favour of new openings. Techniques were simple as small, shallow collieries presented problems of drainage, ventilation and underground transport only to a minor degree. The bulk of the labour supply consisted of collier serfs. By the end of the century far more capital came from industrialists and merchants, and larger collieries had appeared, particularly those associated with ironworks. Tram roads had been introduced, as had steam engines for pumping and, sometimes, for winding. Labour had been freed from its shackles in the hope that workers would be more easily attracted into the industry when it no longer meant mixing in a servile community. But freedom came too late to solve the problem of labour scarcity before 1815 and rising wages were one of the causes of rising coal prices after the 1780s. This book analyses and describes these broad changes with lucid and careful scholarship. It is based, unlike the work of Ashton and Sykes, who used only printed sources for Scotland, upon a surprisingly rich abundance of original sources. The outcome is an account enlivened with vivid, illustrative detail which only occasionally becomes rather repetitive. A full, satisfying picture of the industry emerges. Out of so much that is impressive perhaps particular mention may be made of the discussion of mine management and of the discerning and sympathetic account of the social conditions of the mining communities. Illustrations help to clarify